Airplane hangar



Sept. 2;1958 E. w. LEATHERVMAN AIRPLANE HANGAR 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 FiledJuly 1, 1954 INVENTOR. Earl M Leather-man 3 Arromrzr Sept- 2, 1 E. w.LEATHERMAN 2,850,026

AIRPLANE HANGAR 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed July -1, 1954 INVENTOR. 7 Earl WLeather/nan ATTORNEY Sept. 2, 1958 E. w. LEATHERMAN 2,850,026

AIRPLANE HANGAR Filed July 1, 1954 s Sheets-Sheet 3' INVENTOR. Earl MLeather/nan ATTORNEY United. States, Patent AIRPLANE HAYGAR Earl W.Leatherman, Akron, Ohio, assignor to Goodyear Aircraft Corporation,Akron, Ohio, a corporation of Delaware Application July 1, 1954, SerialNo. 440,743

Claims. (Cl. 135-1) 'ever, useful for small sized shelters, would not beapplicable for shelters to house giant airplanes having wing spans oftwo hundred and more feet.

It is the general object of the invention to avoid and overcome theforegoing and other difliculties of and objections to prior artpractices by providing a shelter which is light in weight and thereforeeasily transportable, capable of easy erection, as well as, dismountablewithin shortest possible time at low cost.

Another object of the invention is to provide a novel way of operatingthe hangar door by deflating and in- 'flating, respectively, the airinflated cells at the door end of the hangar structure for passage of anairplane.

The aforesaid objects of the invention and other objects which willbecome apparent as the description proceeds are achieved by providing agas inflatableshelter or hangar structure of gas-impermeable fabricwhich is divided into a plurality of separately inflatable transversecells some of which having parallelly spaced side walls and adjacentthereto, at both ends, cells having converging side walls radiating froma common line on the ground at each end so that longitudinally theshelter has a parallel center section with adjoining end sectionscontoured as quarter circles to close both ends of the shelter. Some ofthe cells are inflated, partly with helium, to provide the necessarylift for erecting the shelter and for supporting it, and partly withair, whereas the remaining cells are inflated only with air at properpressure to give the shelter its shape and stilfness. By inflating someof the cells at one end of the shelter partly with helium and some onlywith air these cells can be operated to function as hangar door formoving'an airplane in and out. This is accomplished by evacuating theair-inflated cells which then will be lifted by atmospheric pressure, aswell as, by the cells containing helium. Inflating the evacuated aircells again will close the hangar.

For a better understanding of the invention reference should be had tothe accompanying drawings, wherein Fig. 1 is a cross-sectional view,taken on line II of Fig. 3, of one embodiment of the invention,

Fig. 2 is a longitudinal side view of Fig; 1, showing one half incross-section taken on line IIII of Fig. 3,

Fig. 3 is a plan view, partly broken off to show the door in the bottomcell,

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary longitudinal cross-sectional view taken on lineIIII showing the door air cells evacuated,

Fig. 5 is a half cross-sectional view, taken at V-V of Fig. 6, of amodification of the hangar shown in Figs. 1 0 4,

Fig. 6 is a fragmentary longitudinal side view, shown partly in section,of Fig. 5.

With specific reference to the form of the invention illustrated in thedrawings, Figs. 1 to 4, the numeral 1 indicates generally the air andgas inflated hangar struc ture which. for reasons of easier handling intransportation and erecting is composed of several sections, forinstance, a middle section A joined together at 2 with section B and at3 with section C. Section A is divided by walls 4 into arch-shaped cells5, 6, 7, 8 and 9, each of which being provided with a pair of floatingdiaphragms 10 dividing each cell into a middle compartment inflated withhelium and into two side compartments inflated with air. The walls 4 ofthe cells 6, 7 and 3 are parallel, whereas those of the cells 5 and 9converge at the transverse hangar floor lines 11 and 12, respectively.Section B consists of six cells, 13 to 18, all inflated entirely'withair and with the planes of their side walls converging at the floor line11, whereas section C, also consisting of 6 cells, 1910 24, with theplanes of their side walls converging at the floor line 12. The cells19, 20 and 22, 23 are inflated entirely with air, whereas, cells 21 and24 provided with diaphragms 10 contain helium and air. with separateinflation sleeves. The inflation pressure applied to all cells is keptabove that of the atmosphere to give the structure 'the necessaryrigidity. In order to open the hangar for moving an airplane in or out,the air in the cells 19, 20 and 22, 23'is evacuated therefrom so thatthe lifting gas contained in the cells 21 and 24 will cause to liftthese cells together with the evacuated air cells to a height permittingthe passage of an airplane. More specifically, a hose manifold 45connected to a pump 46 driven by a reversible motor 47 may be used toinflate or deflate cells 19, 20, 22 and 23 to close or open the hangar,as will be understood. Opposite thereof is provided a door 25 builtintothe bottom air cell 18 made in two parts for the passage of trucks.Attachments 26 at the bottom of the cells are anchored in suitablefoundations 27 andoutside guy lines 28'and 29 tangentially attached tothe fabricstructure hold the same in secure position on the ground. Eachof the four groups of guy lines 28, extending from the cells havingconverging side walls, is fastened to a single anchorage 30. Thisarrangement makes it possible to operate the pneumatic door withoutremoving the guy lines 28 from the movable cells being held thereby inproper position. The guy lines 29 on this side of the hangar areprovided with quick-release devices to open and close the pneumaticallyoperated door at a minimum of time. Between some of the cells areprovided catenaries 31 from which are suspended emergency guy lines 32,which ordinarily are not in use but will be secured to the ground incase of high winds to give the hangar additional safety.

For smaller size shelters or hangars a modification of the inventionisillustrated in Figs. 5 and 6. In this case the hangar structure,designated in general by thenumeral 33, is inflated entirely by air andcomposed of arch-shaped, transverse, cells 34 having a wide supportingbase and parallel sidewalls 35, as Well as, of cells 36 havingconverging sidewalls 3.5. The cells 36- extend in both directions fromthe cells 34 to form'hangar ends of, longitudinally, quarter circularcontour, one end of which is to be operated as a door by evacuating theair from as many cells 36 as is necessary to provide an openingsufliciently large to move an airplane in and out of the hangar. Byevacuating these cells, starting at the bottom, they will move upwardsand swing'by atmospheric pressure about a common axis 37 along which thecells 36 are anchored by cables 38 on the inside and by cables 390i: theoutside of the hangar. All cells are All cells and compartment areprovided provided on the inside with a plurality of transverse fabricconnections 40 between adjacent side walls 35. These fabric connections,however, may take the shape of catenaries laced together. For practicalreasons, the radial cells 36 end short from the axis 37, but areanchored with their side walls, provided with catenaries, along the axis37. Some of the side walls or diaphragms 35 forming the cells may extendinwardly as catenaries 41 to which emergency guy lines can be attachedfor additional anchorage in case of adverse wind conditions. Thecatenaries 41 may also be used for supporting lights or for otherpurposes. Anchor means 42 are provided at the bottom inside and outsideof, and catenaries 43 between the cells 34 to hold the fabric structurefirmly on the ground by ties 44.

From the aforesaid it will be recognized that the erection of sheltersaccording to the invention is very simple. First, with the necessaryground anchors in place and the guy lines and other attachment means onthe fabric structure secured to the ground anchors while the fabricstructure is spaced out on the ground, and blower and suction equipmenthas been set up, inflation with gas and air, respectively, by blowerswill automatically raise the fabric structure and give it shape,strength and rigidity at required pressure. The operation of the hangardoors is equally simple since it is accomplished either by evacuation orby inflation of some of the cells for opening and closing the door,respectively.

While certain representative embodiments and details have been shown forthe purpose of illustrating the inventicn, it will be apparent to thoseskilled in this art that various changes and modifications may be madetherein without departing from the spirit or scope of the invention.

What I claim:

1. A closed airplane shelter, or the like, made of gasirnpermeablefabric and having an arch-like cross-section with both ends of theshelter forming in side view substantially a quarter circle, saidshelter being composed of a caternary-contoured outer wall, aeatenary-contoured inner wall spaced from the outer wall and unitedtherewith at the shelter base, transverse partitions between oppositewall catenaries dividing the space between said walls into cells eachextending the full width of the shelter, gas in thecells at a pressureabove that of the atmosphere, at least certain of the cells at one endof the shelter being deflatable, and means for evacuating the deflatablecells to be lifted by atmospheric pressure so as to provide a doorway inthe shelter.

2. A closed airplane shelter, or the like, made of gasimpermeable fabricand having an arch-like cross-section with both ends of the shelterforming in side view substantially a quarter circle, said shelter beingcomposed of a catenary-contoured outer wall, a catenary-contoured innerWall spaced from the outer Wall and united therewith at the shelterbase, transverse partitions between 0pposite wall catenaries dividingthe space between said walls into cells each extending the full width ofthe shelter. pairs of spaced transverse diaphragms in certain ones ofsaid cells dividing them into a center compartment and sidecompartments, said center compartment being inflated with helium andsaid side compartments with air, pairs of deflatable, fully air-inflatedcells at one end of the shelter being located between adjacent, partlyheliuminflated cells, and means for evacuating the deflatable cells tobe lifted by the helium and in addition by atmospheric pressure so as toprovide a doorway in the shelter.

3. An airplane hangar comprising an inflatable gasimpermeableself-supporting fabric structure including spaced outer and inner wallportions, and partitions connecting said wall portions to form aplurality of transverse cells each extending the full width of thehangar, the cells included in the hangar middle portions being formed byvertical partitions and the cells positioned at the ends of the hangarbeing formed by partitions positioned in planes converging at commontransverse axes on the hangar floor, said end cells having quartercircular contour in longitudinal section.

4. An airplane hangar comprising an inflatable gasimpermeableself-supporting fabric structure including spaced outer and inner wallportions, partitions connecting said wall portions to form a pluralityof transverse cells each extending the full width of the hangar, thecells included in the hangar middle portion being formed by verticalpartitions and the cells positioned at the ends of the hangar beingformed by partitions positioned in planes converging at commontransverse axes on the hangar floor, said end cells having quartercircular contour in longitudinal section, and a pair of spaceddiaphragms within a group of adjacent cells in the hangar middle portionand also in at least two non-adjacent cells on one of the hangar endportions with one of them being a bottom cell, said diap'hragms dividingsaid cells into a center compartment inflated with helium and endcompartments inflated with air, whereas, all other cells are inflatedwith air only, the helium furnishing additional support to the structureand also acting as a lifting force for one end of the hangar to beoperated as a door swingable about one of said transverse axes when theair cells between the cells carrying helium are evacuated and which dooris closed by again inflating the air cells.

5. A closed airplane shelter. or the like, made of gasimpermeable fabricand having an arch-like cross-section with both ends of the shelterforming in side view substantially a quarter circle, said shelter beingcomposed of a catenary-contoured outer wall, a catenary-contoured innerwall spaced from the outer wall and united therewith at the shelterbase, transverse partitions between opposite wall catenaries dividingthe space between said walls into cells each extending the full width ofthe she]- ter, gas in the cells at a pressure above that of theatmosphere, at least certain cells at one end of the shelter beinginflated with a gas lighter than air, and means for deflating at leastcertain other of the cells at said end of the shelter to allow the cellsinflated with gas lighter than air to lift and provide a doorway in theshelter.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS511,472 Sumovski Dec. 26, 1893 2,411,316 Capita Nov. 19, 1946 2,636,457Finlay et a1. Apr. 28, 1953 2,698,020 Phane Dec. 28, 1954 FOREIGNPATENTS 132,134 Great Britain Sept. 11, 1919 512,001 Belgium June 30,1952 OTHER REFERENCES Scientific American Magazine (front cover and page483), published November 15, 1919.

